A group of Israeli Arabs accused of forming an Islamic State group-inspired cell with plans to attack security forces and stores selling alcohol were charged in an Israeli court on Thursday, police said.
The group included three members aged 20-23 from the northern Israeli city of Nazareth and adjacent town Yafia, as well as another 26-year-old who allegedly provided them with guidance from prison, where he is already serving time for murdering a taxi driver.
They were charged with belonging to an illegal group, contact with a foreign agent, conspiring to commit a crime and arms dealing, police said in a statement.
The Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that the suspects, arrested in August, had for the past year “acted to obtain a weapon, trained with it, and collected intelligence on military and police bases in order to carry out attacks under the Islamic State flag.”